


Warmth

by anoyo



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-02
Updated: 2009-12-02
Packaged: 2017-10-04 02:50:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anoyo/pseuds/anoyo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin was never really sure how the knights kept warm enough on the cold, snowy patrols that Arthur insisted were necessary, in spite of the unwritten rule that real fighting -- the kind that needed knights -- didn't happen in winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Try though I might, I couldn't come up with anything profound for this prompt. Uhm. This is considerably shorter than yesterday's (and tomorrow's), but I did enjoy writing it, for all of the ten minutes that it took, once I'd decided on the idea. Beta'd by [H](http://vamplover82.livejournal.com), who is lovely and eats my overusage of commas. Originally posted [here](http://community.livejournal.com/merlinadvent/28547.html).

Merlin was never really sure how the knights kept warm enough on the cold, snowy patrols that Arthur insisted were necessary, in spite of the unwritten rule that real fighting -- the kind that needed knights -- didn't happen in winter. Chain mail, while adding an extra layer, did nothing but draw in the cold, and it kept the body from folding in on itself to retain heat. Really, mail in winter was just cruel. The rule of the knights was, though, that if Arthur wore it, so would everyone else.

Arthur was always expecting things like that from himself; so what if they led to frostbite.

Really, on those night patrols, it was all Merlin could do to stay awake, huddled as he was in his own coat and cloak near the fire, keeping as warm as he was able. When he imagined trying to carry around chain mail _and_ stay alert for danger? It was almost unfathomable.

That first winter Merlin spent in Camelot, controlled magic was something of a novelty to Merlin, and something that he still feared, his upbringing rearing its head. It was the least he could do, while waiting for Arthur -- who waited for his knights if he wasn't patrolling with them, much like a worried mother hen -- to keep a small enchantment on the jug of warm barley water. If any of the knights were surprised by the way the water stayed warm long after it should have, they never said a word.

Merlin would never have been able to do the patrol that they were doing; it wasn't something that he was built for, as Arthur reminded him at every given chance. That didn't mean Merlin didn't support what they were doing, keeping the town safe. Maybe it would have his head, the small, harmless enchantment, but it was something Merlin could do. As yet, no one had said a thing.

His mother had always said, something warm on a cold day was, sometimes, all it took to keep the heart from the chill.


End file.
